Elementary 4-6 Campus Newsletter

April 2011

PTO News
Our best estimate is that we made $42,420.97 from the PTO Dinner and Auction. Thank you to all those you contributed to the auction. Because of your help the auction was a huge success!

Congratulations!
Congratulations to our Junior Future Problem Solving team placed 5th place in the state Governor's Cup competition. The subject was water quality.
The group includes: Allison Ford, Claire Hagan, Alison Kuntz, Benjamin Conkright.

4th/5th Grade Academic Team Place 3rd in Region!
The Quick Recall Team placed fourth. Team members are: Olivia Bickett, John Henry Booth, Benjamin Conkright, Jacquelyn Gesser, Kelly Hayden, Samuel Hyland, Derek Osborne, Geneva Renshaw, Grant Toler, and Sam Wilson.

The FPS team placed third. Team members are: Benjamin Conkright, MacKenzie Keelin, Hannah Latham, and Sam Wilson.

The following students placed in the individual assessment:
Science—Benjamin Conkright and Kelly Hayden 4th
Social Studies—Jacquelyn Gesser 1st
Arts and Humanities—Olivia Bickett 1st, Ally Mattingly 3rd and Nick Howard 5th.

Congratulations and a big “Thank you” to our coaches Karen Bickett and Robin Booth on a fantastic year. Also thank you to Terry Osborne, Beverly Estes, Chad Gesser, Heather Hayden, John Kurtz.

Pre-Registration
Don’t forget that Thursday, March 31st ends our pre-registration period. It is important all students pre-register so that we can determine our staffing for next year.


Eggs in the Park
Whitesville Community Park, Saturday, April 16th. Registration at 10:00 am. Hunt will begin at 10:30 am. $5.00 per child, 2 & under are free. For more information call 993-0499.


Grandparent’s Mass
The 4-6 Campus will honor Grandparents on May 5th. We ask you to put this date on your calendar and invite grandparents to the 9AM Liturgy and reception. We will be sending home more information later in April.


AR Third Quarter Incentive
We will be having a beach party on Thursday, March 31st for our third quarter reward. Students will need to dress in appropriate shorts and shirt, along with their beach hats and don’t forget your sunglasses and beach towels. The students may also wear their flip flops to school on this day since they will be spending their lunch and recess times at the beach party. Parent volunteers are needed from 10:45-12:30 on this day. Come join the fun!

Iowa Tests of Basic Skills

Students in all grades will be taking the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) by Riverside Publishing starting April 25th. Teachers will put their individual testing dates on their weekly reports. Below are suggestions we feel will help your child do better on the test.                  

1.  Make sure your child gets plenty of rest each night.

2.  Your child should have a good breakfast every day during testing. A study has shown that students who ate before taking tests scored better than those who did not eat anything.  Breakfast is available in the cafeteria 7:00 – 7:30 AM. 

3.  Test will be given in the mornings, as much as possible. Your child must get to school on time 7:40. A student arriving late after a test has started will have to wait until the test ends before entering the classroom.

4. Your child should bring a HEALTHY NUTRITIOUS SNACK to eat each day during testing. Please do not send sweet or messy food.  Good snacks include:  fruit, trail mix, cheese, beef stick, peanut butter and crackers, pretzels, or dry cereal like Cheerios.  The cafeteria will also be providing the Power Break snacks each morning.

5. Your child needs to bring two (#2 lead) pencils with good erasers. Mechanical pencils should not be used on these tests. 

6.  Your child should have a library book at his/her desk that he/she can read when waiting for test times to finish as all tests are timed.

7.  Please make sure that students are not out for other appointments during testing periods.  This will prevent the teachers from having to administer make-up tests.

8.  The fifth grade test is used as one source of data to determine placement for middle school classes during the student’s sixth grade year.

Please keep the students and teachers in your prayers especially during these testing days. Thank you in advance for helping us make this a good learning experience for the students.  We all want them to be successful.